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A road trip following the Kaveri
The Kaveri (or Cauvery) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. For peasants and the gentry, it is a source of life and livelihood, for pilgrims it is as sacred as the Ganges and for politicians, it is a pivot that might decide the fate of the next election. For tourists and travelers though, the river can be a source of great inspiration. For it is born in a spring adjoining a temple, been a witness to kingdoms and civilizations of great importance through the ages, it’s waters irrigate the great rice bowl lands of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. A gently flowing river, I have often wondered…
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A road trip along the Karnataka coast – Honnavar to Maravanthe
Far from the cliched list of ‘tourist places in Karnataka’, a road trip along the picturesque Karnataka coast (called the Kanara) had been on my mind since the past year and a half. For some reason though, I kept pushing it down the priority list. In August this year however, this dream of a road trip materialized. Although we skipped Karwar and Gokarna (Gokarna, well, started it all) since we’d been there earlier, we did cover the 180 km stretch from Honnavar to Mangalore. This covers major stretches of the Uttara Kannada district (Karwar-Bhatkal), Udupi district and Dakshina Kannada district. Even in the peak of the monsoon season, I was undaunted…
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What a Jog
Many a time has an enthusiastic tourist made the long journey to Jog falls to end up with something like this. This was in the peak of the monsoon season, as you can make out from the greenery around. Supposedly, one of the highest waterfalls in India, its moniker ‘Joke falls’ among blogging circles is well-deserved going by this photograph. And to think, the state authorities have created a parking lot, a state tourism hotel, viewing areas to benefit the hordes of tourists. Just wonder whether somebody forgot to turn on the secret waterfall switch. Honestly though, I have no idea if this is due to the rainfall deficit or…
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Chikmagalur Trip – Part I
[Trip undertaken in Oct 2012] We had just come back from a delightful Hampi trip, that first weekend of October and our feet were itching to go explore Karnataka some more. A couple of debates on possible destinations included Valparai, Ooty and its southern sisters Coonoor, Kotagiri, even Kodaikanal (we did go on a trip to Ooty later) among others. I thought the heat in Hampi had been exhausting and was looking forward to someplace cooler and more refreshing. Chikmagalur had always been at the back of my mind, if for nothing else, because I found the name endearingly funny ever since I was a kid. One image of Ayyanekere…
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A Tibetan settlement in Coorg
What sort of an idiot plans a solo trip when all his batch mates are either going home for the term break or are compelled to spend the last term break with their close (really close) ones ? Me. Where is the joy in that, you ask ? Well, you get to take a solo ride in a rickshaw at 0800 on a very chilly morning with a rickshaw driver named Munju, who, dressed in a jacket and monkey cap, takes one look at you because you are dressed just in a t-shirt and shorts and asks you very sincerely, “Sir, aren’t you feeling cold in that ?”, but proceeds…
